"But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ…and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him.” Philippians 3:7-9.
It has been a wild ride with my husband for over 34 years! He has this insatiable brain that God gave him, and it never rests. Just because he has settled on the answer to a dilemma one day, doesn’t mean I won’t find feverishly written notes the next day on a pad with better ideas. His inventive brain has lent itself to discover a multitude of solutions to problems over the years but has also been a curse at times for him I’m sure. We have looked back and laughed hysterically over some of the ideas he put into place to accomplish home projects. We have seen how God kept us safe during times we were doing things in our own strength and wisdom. We have also realized the things that we tried that gained us nothing…rubbish.
In my Bible study this morning, I was responding to this passage about the things I used to see as ‘gain’ and how I recognize them now as rubbish. I used to chase the approval of others, a chase that never had a capture…rubbish! I used to purchase things in an attempt to satisfy deep unmet needs in my soul…rubbish! In tough circumstances I tried with everything in me to control the challenging circumstances that controlled me…rubbish! I tried to build an image contrary to the one God created…rubbish! Heartbreakingly I now see that I sought glory for myself over giving God His deserved glory…all rubbish!
Ironically, the things I used to see as gain hold no value to me anymore. The more I subtracted these things from my life, Christ added more of Himself to my heart. The only way to gain life is to lose our life in Christ. When I look back at the millions of square things I tried to stuff into a circular life in Christ I see nothing but futility…a life of rubbish activities. Things seem much easier now in dealing with circumstances, good or bad, because they all have the same solution…God. There is no longer a frantic search for solutions. My response in all things now seems to be to wait and watch…to pray and anticipate…to be aware and be grateful that He holds every answer to every solution.
I would love to know what you consider your rubbish. What are those things that you had hoped to gain by your own attempts that you now see God resolved? What did you used to see as gain that no longer holds power over you? There is no condemnation in looking back for it is part of the process in our spiritual maturity. It gives us a dividing line to measure our ‘now’ against our ‘then'...our gain against our loss...our rubbish against our treasure.
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